WENHAM, Mass.—Fresh off a big win over Curry on Monday, Gordon Softball completed its first sweep of the season with a pair of wins against visiting Regis, 6-4 and 5-4. Rachel Ryder (Telford, Pa.) provided a walk-off single to right field with two outs in the eighth inning to push Gordon to the doubleheader sweep.
Regis falls to 5-8 on the season, while Gordon improves to 6-17 overall.
Game One The Pride were the first to draw blood, getting to Gordon freshman Emily Kline (Park Ridge, N.J.) right off the bat. Kelsey Heath (Lowell, Mass.) rocketed the first pitch of the game right back at Kline and was easily safe. Rachel DesRochers (Westfor, Mass.) and Allison Caloggero (Medford, Mass.) each reached base on a walk and error respectively to load the bases with no outs.
Michaela NeJaime (Saindisfield, Mass.) made the Scots pay with a two-RBI single to the gap in left field to plate Heath and DesRochers. Caloggero also scored later in the inning on a passed ball to put Gordon in a 3-0 hole.
Gordon answered in the bottom of the third inning with two runs of its own. Brie Roberts (Center Conway, N.H.) reached on an error in the outfield and advanced to second on the play. Kiersten Bieren (Groton, Mass.) pushed Roberts to third with a single and then Bieren stole second to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Both Gordon runners scored on an error by the Regis second baseman with Ryder at the plate and brought the Regis lead down to one.
The Fighting Scots evened the game in the next inning, again due to a Pride miscue. Kara Pepper (Wyckoff, N.J.) singled with one out and eventually made it to third on an error by the pitcher. Sarah Ryder (Telford, Pa.) ushered Pepper home on a bunt later in the inning to tie the game at three.
Gordon took control of the game in the fifth inning with three more runs, all with two outs. Regis got the first two batters of the inning to ground out, but Emily Burkhart (Manheim, Pa.) kick-started a rally with a single through the hole on the left side. Another Regis error allowed the inning to continue and back-to-back RBI's by Pepper and Kline doubled the score, 6-3.
The Pride got a run back in the sixth, but could not break through for two more in the seventh. Marissa Magarian (Goffstown, N.H.) took the loss, while striking out two. After a tough first inning, Kline rebounded to earn the victory and keep the Pride offense at bay.
Game Two The game of runs continued in the second contest. A quiet first two and a half inning gave way to scoring in bunches over the final half of the game.
Gordon broke through first with two RBI knocks in the bottom of the third. Alyssa Unumb (Bedford, Mass.) led off the frame with a single and later scored on a single by Rachel Ryder. Marissa Meenan (Wayne, Pa.) drove in Rachel Ryder from second after Ryder stole the base.
The Pride remained scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when they began to connect at the plate against Abigail Knowlton (Deer Isle, Maine). Rachel Tortora (Malden, Mass.) led off the inning with a walk and stole second during the next at-bat. Taylor Polizonis (Cromwell, Conn.) singled Tortora over to third and also stole second to put two runners in scoring position. A passed ball allowed both runners to advance, scoring Tortora, before Heath drove Polizonis home on a RBI single.
Gordon went back up by two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Rachel Ryder and Kline both made their way across the play in the frame to give Gordon a 4-2 lead.
Down to their final three outs, the Pride capitalized on a tri of Gordon errors in the top of the seventh. Polizonis and Heath each brought in a runner to tie the game, sending it to extra innings.
Regis could not capitalize with the tiebreaker runner at second base and Gordon found some magic in the bottom of the eight. Roberts started the inning two bases away from the winning run and was escorted to third with a sacrifice bunt by Bieren. Victoria Allman (Newburyport, Mass.) got Unumb to pop out for the second out of the inning, but Rachel Ryder poked one through the infield to score Roberts for the walk-off.
Allman was credited with her first loss of the season, while Knowlton picked up her second collegiate victory.
Gordon remains home again tomorrow for their fourth series in five days when Western New England comes to town.
